Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

With respect, Mr. Mulligan should understand that we are at the front line in understanding people's needs. We are the people who run constituency offices. We understand full well the significance of the NBP. We also understand the deficit which exists in respect of the provision of the broadband service. I think that is self-evident, and I do not think we need to be reminded of it. I am, however, concerned about the standard of replies that my office receives when contact is made via the dedicated email address for representations to NBI. I would like to see a greater degree of transparency regarding the number of representations made through that email channel and how many of those representations from the offices of Deputies and Senators are actually resolved. I refer to a broadband connection ultimately being made.

Whether we like it or not, and whatever about the commercial considerations and the costs, the fact remains that an expectation was created that a service would be rolled out. The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic has increased or fast-tracked that expectation. I think we would all agree on that point. Therefore, a demand and an expectation exist for these services, which I think is a legitimate one. I refer to people in particular circumstances of which we are all aware, whether down dale or up glen, where there is an expectation of being able to work remotely. Sometimes there is a perception that people in rural Ireland have particular types of jobs and fulfil particular types of functions.

I want to remind everyone that the people in rural Ireland are the people with PhDs, MBAs, masters, and they are working remotely across pharma and academia, and that needs to be understood. They need the access; that is the bottom line. They are professional people living in these communities and they have a legitimate expectation. If there is one thing arising from today it is that the quality of engagement with Oireachtas Members should improve such that we can expect legitimately that, when we make representations on behalf of these very people whom I am talking about and there is some sort of priority give to that. Very often we are the door of last resort for these people because they have tried every other option, given they are more than capable of engaging with the commercial providers themselves and they have done so, but they are coming to us because they have no other place to go. They have a legitimate expectation of us that we would interface with representatives at nbi.ie and they would then expect, and we would expect, that we would receive some sort of a return, and a deliverable. The deliverable in this case is a connection ultimately.

That is why I was concerned by the amber map from day one. I do not profess to be an expert in; I am a layman in all of this, not a financial wizard. I have no technical knowledge in respect of networks or telephony, but I do know what the needs of my constituents are. I do not see how, in this day and age, there is not some blend of service that could be provided that is a solution for each household. I do not think there is anything that is insurmountable by way of a solution for every household given the paradigm shift that has taken place. That is where people like are coming from, quite simply. We need to get information back to this committee in respect of how many representations have been received by Oireachtas Members and how many of those have been resolved whereby a connection is made. We need some qualitative and quantitative analysis of those representations in terms of whether they are succeeding through our interventions.

My second point relates to the BCPs. How many BCPs are up and running and live as we speak?